The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has revealed in a news release that its scientists are working on a new design for a circular hovering rover that levitates thanks to the moon's inherent electric field.
The electric field that rises up due to direct exposure to the Sun and its surrounding plasma would power the "flying saucer." This solar exposure creates a charge that can lift particles more than a meter (more than three feet) above the lunar surface in the absence of an atmosphere, and it may be possible to capture this energy.
The new machines take advantage of the fact that airless bodies like the moon and asteroids generate an electric field when they are exposed to the sun and its surrounding plasma. Such robots might be used to conduct lucrative scouting missions on the moon's surface as well as to adjacent asteroids.
The rover would be built of a material called Mylar, which holds the same charge when hit by the sun's rays. To charge the lunar ride, tiny ions would be used and it will also augment the natural surface charge, in order to defy gravity.
The landscape of an asteroid could be very uneven, and as long as you had a controlled system to keep the rover floating, you could drive through really harsh, uncharted terrain without having to physically skirt the asteroid, according to the scientists.
"With a levitating rover, you don't have to worry about wheels or moving parts," MIT engineer Paulo Lozano said.
The surface charge on a body the size of the moon is strong enough to power levitating machinery; in fact, lunar dust has been levitated up to a meter above the ground.
The MIT team's levitating rover, which in renderings resembles a flying saucer beaming down to the lunar surface, charges the vehicle with tiny ion beams and boosts the surface's natural charge.
The researchers demonstrated that an ion boost from their machine could float a small 2-lb (907-gram) rover on the moon and even big asteroids like 16 Psyche in their initial experiments.
Levitation is conceivable, according to their findings. More modeling will be required to get the rover up to an acceptable height, according to the researchers, but the underlying calculations appear to be correct.
Large asteroids like Psyche might also be investigated by this type of rover, allowing scientists to examine these rocky worlds up close with a vehicle that isn't bothered by uneven terrain and can take some of its power from natural electric fields.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets.
